1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to solar heat collection and more particularly relates to a heat collecting plate as well as an assemblage of the collecting plates adapted to be used in a solar collector to trap and absorb solar radiation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The tremendous energy output of the sun has been recognized for years and numerous attempts have been made at harnessing this energy so that it can be converted into a useful state. For example, the sun's energy has been successfully converted into electrical energy with solar batteries and similarly, the sun's energy has been converted into heating systems by so-called solar stoves, furnaces and the like. The solar furnace apparatuses, however, have been typified by extremely large collectors covering large portions of the roof structure of a building to be heated with the apparatus and it has been necessary that these collectors be oriented at a particular angle relative to horizontal (usually between 45.degree. and 60.degree.) to be generally in a perpendicular relationship with the solar radiation received at the location of the collector.
With the exception of the solar furnace apparatus disclosed in, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,987,786, 3,946,721, 3,946,720, 3,946,944 and 3,894,685, the prior art solar furnace systems have required unusually large collectors to capture enough solar radiation to adequately heat a building structure even on a temporary basis. The combination of the extremely large size of the collector with the fact that the collectors had to be mounted at the preselected angle relative to horizontal to adequately collect solar radiation posed numerous practical problems. The most logical place to install a large collector was in the roof of the building structure but due to the necessary angle required of the collector, the angle of the roof normally adversely affected the aesthetic appearance of the building structure. Accordingly, it has long been recognized that a solar collector which could be oriented at any angle relative to horizontal, even purely horizontal or vertical, would resolve many structural as well as aesthetic problems which have plagued those trying to utilize solar radiation on a practical and efficient basis for energy purposes.